“Stand,” she said.
The man rose. His knees were shaking. “Captain Skene sent us for help. We need you, Your Highness. The rebels are going to kill us all. The women, the children . . .” His voice was rising to an hysterical pitch.
The rani put her hand on his shoulder. “What would you have me do?”
“Stop the rebels!”
“I’m no longer the Rani of Jhansi.”
The soldier was trembling. “Can’t you speak with them?”
“I can. But I gave your captain advice and it wasn’t heeded. I told him to flee.”
“He’ll listen now! Whatever you ask him to do, he’ll listen!”
“I’ll speak with the rebels,” Moropant said.
The soldier’s face seemed to transform itself. “Will you tell them to grant us safe passage? That’s all we want,” he swore. “Then we’ll all be on the first ship home. None of us asked to be here,” he said. “None of us want to be here at all!”
But I thought of the Circular Memorandum and I felt very little sympathy for this man.
“I will press whatever advantage I have,” Moropant promised. “For the sake of the women and children,” he clarified. “But you should return to the fort.”
“They’ll kill me!”
“No. I’ll be your guard.”
The rani exchanged a look with her father. He led the man out the door, and the room was silent. I fanned myself with my hand. The windows had been thrown open to try to catch a breeze on such a sweltering day. At the Panch Mahal, long kusha grass shades would have blocked out the sun, but there was nothing like that here. Just painted wooden shutters.
“Is there anything you’d like me to do?” Arjun asked. “Shall I go into the marketplace and see what I can learn?”
The rani nodded.
An hour later, Arjun returned. “Your father escorted Johnson back to Town Fort. That was his name. The other three—Purcell, Andrews, and Scott—were killed, just as he said. The assault is planned for tomorrow.”
“And?” the rani asked. “What will happen to the English?”
“Safe passage,” Arjun said. “There are women and children inside. Safe passage will be granted.”
“You heard them say this?”
“I heard General Khan make the promise to your father.”
I thought this would ease the rani’s concerns, but she still looked troubled.
The next morning, the rebels surrounded Town Fort, as promised. The English were marched to Jokhan Bagh, a large garden just beyond Jhansi’s city walls. There, all sixty-six of them were killed, including Captain Skene, Dr. McEgan, Mrs. McEgan, and all the tiny children we used to watch running through the fortress. A celebratory group of rebels made their way to the Rani Mahal and demanded to be let in through the gates. When the guards didn’t put up a fight, we secured the doors and listened through the heavy metal and wood as they shouted in the courtyard, demanding to see the Rani of Jhansi at once.
“She isn’t going to risk appearing, is she?” I worried.
“I don’t know,” Jhalkari said. “She’s not afraid of many things.”
Arjun and the other male guards were with us, weapons poised, in case any of the rebels should get the idea to force open the doors. I drew back an arrow, the bowstring tight and ready.
“Send out the Rani of Jhansi!” someone shouted, and then one of the men began a chant. “Rani! Rani!” They shouted it over and over until a sudden break in the noise told me that above us, the rani had appeared. A sudden cheer went up, as deliriously happy as it had been angry just moments earlier.
“Come down!” someone shouted, and this time, the men cheered and sounded ecstatic.
There were footsteps on the wooden stairs behind us, then the rani appeared in a white Chanderi sari with a red crescent moon painted on her forehead. On her waist, she carried a sword, and behind her, a shield. She was dressed like a soldier. After all, her father had trained her as one.
“Open the doors,” she said.
Arjun and the other men hesitated, but she repeated her command.
“How many men shall escort you?” Arjun asked.
“None. I want three Durgavasi behind me. Sundari, Kahini, and Sita.”
Arjun knew better than to question this. Sundari was armed with her weapon of choice—a pistol—while I carried my bow and Kahini her knives. We fell into position behind the rani. Then the doors opened, and the shocked rebels stepped back. I could hear their sharp intake of breath, as the realization hit them that this woman in soldier’s dress had once been their queen.